Kenneth T. Bluew was surrounded by Saginaw County sheriff's deputies before the jury foreman read a verdict convicting Bluew of first-degree premeditated murder in the Aug. 30, 2011, death of Jennifer Webb, who was eight months pregnant with Bluew's son.Jeff Schrier | MLive.com

SAGINAW, MI — When a jury convicted suspended police officer Kenneth T. Bluew of murdering Jennifer Webb, his sentence was set by law: mandatory life in prison without parole.

A Saginaw County judge is expected to impose that penalty when Bluew appears for sentencing Nov. 5.

But where Bluew will serve his term in state prison hasn't been determined, and his status as a former officer could influence where and how he's assigned to a correctional facility.

After a four-week trial before Saginaw County Circuit Judge Darnell Jackson, a jury Thursday, Oct. 11, convicted Bluew, 37, of first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Webb, who was eight months pregnant with his son. Bluew, a suspended Buena Vista Township police officer, was married to another woman at the time.

Court officials have scheduled the first Monday of November as the day for Bluew's sentencing before Jackson.

Once that happens, there's no exact date when Bluew will be transported from the Saginaw County Jail to the Michigan Department of Corrections' Egeler Reception and Guidance Center in Jackson. The transport date depends on the number of recent prison sentences handed down by Saginaw County judges affecting other jail inmates. The county sheriff's department attempts to ensure a full bus of transports, said sheriff's Captain Bill Gutzwiller.

Once Bluew arrives in Jackson, corrections department personnel will classify him for prison placement, said corrections department spokesman John Cordell. Prisoners often stay at the Jackson facility for 30 to 60 days, Cordell said, depending on the classification process and available bed space at other prisons.

Bluew's status as a former police officer will factor into his placement, Cordell said.

“We handle each case on its own merits,” Cordell explained. “It really depends on what the needs of the individual offender are. We take into account the circumstances of the crime and the status of the individual when they were in the community. If we need to take necessary precautions above and beyond (general population security measures), we do that.”

Cordell said it's possible that Bluew could be placed in a unit that features "protective segregation." In those units, the prisoner is assigned to a two-person cell, their movement is more restricted, and they have very little group interaction, Cordell said.

The segregation is different than administrative segregation or detention, Cordell said, in that the prisoner still is able to possess their property and can partake in programming for which they are eligible.

In addition to Bluew's status as a former officer, the nature of the crime for which he was convicted also is a factor, Cordell said. In most cases, he said, prisoners convicted of murder and most other assaultive crimes are placed in high security Level 4 or, in some cases, maximum security Level 5, security classifications. Of the state's 32 facilities, 13 house Level 4 offenders.

Other classification factors include his health, mental health, and educational or other special needs, Cordell said.

Cordell added that it's possible, depending on how personnel classify Bluew, that he could be placed in a federal prison system outside of the state with its own built-in precautions.

Bluew was convicted of murdering the 32-year-old Webb, who planned to name her son Braxton, on Aug. 30, 2011, at North Outer and Hack in Buena Vista Township. Experts said Webb was strangled. The jury also convicted Bluew of assaulting a pregnant individual intentionally causing miscarriage or stillbirth of a fetus or embryo and two counts of possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Bluew has remained on unpaid suspension from the Buena Vista Police Department since the days following Webb's death.

Sgt. Sean Waterman, the department's acting chief, said Friday he has submitted paperwork to Dexter Mitchell, the interim township manager, for a change of employment status for Bluew, seeking his termination. Waterman said Mitchell told him he would review the paperwork with the township's attorney before signing off on the termination.

While in prison, Bluew will wait for the appellate process to take its course. Every defendant in Michigan who is convicted of a felony after a trial has a right to appeal his or her conviction to the state Court of Appeals.

If Bluew appeals the conviction, which he likely will, he could hire an appellate attorney or have the state appoint him one. If the Court of Appeals were to deny his appeal, he then would have the option of asking the state Supreme Court to hear his appeal.

A Supreme Court appeal is by leave and not by right, meaning the high court has the option of whether to hear the appeal or decline to hear it.